Size: Males are 24 to 26 inches tall at the shoulder, females are 22 to 24 inches tall

they are a great dog to train

they have great energy and intensity

they love to exercise

they are great prey hunters

twice a year they undergo a heavy shedding cycle

dogtime. com.

Dog Breed Group: herding dogs

Height: 1 foot, 10 inches to 2 feet, 2 inches tall at the shoulder

Weight: 40 to 80 pounds; females weigh 40 to 60 pounds

Life Span: 12 to 14 years

World War I Belgian shepherd dog's military activity:

messenger dogs

red cross dogs

ambulance cart dogs

light machine-gun cart dogs

Current events regarding poaching crisis

Paratrooper dogs are released from helicopters to hunt wild animal poachers in South Africa. They benefit endangered elephants and rhinos. Paramount Group, a company that specializes in security technology, trained a strong force of canines to combat illegal hunting.

Killer, a black and tawny brown, Belgian Malinois, leader of poaching dogs, has caught 115 poachers during a four year period, and more than 15 poachers in a six-month period, all arrested, travels over 5 miles of bush terrain, he protects rhinos at Kruger National Park, armed rangers are at the dog’s side. Killer was trained daily by Amos Mzimba, and bred by Henry Holsthyzen from Paramount Anti-Poaching program and K-9 academy. Killer received a gold medal; he is considered an animal hero by United Kingdom vet charity, PDSA (The people's dispensary for sick animals).

Malinois anti-poacher dogs

Belgian Melinois

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German Shepherd military dog

German Shepherd characteristics

German Shepherds helped rescue officers locate victims of the World Trade Center' 9/11 terrorist attack. American breeders import them from Germany to use them in their breeding programs, because they are considered higher-quality breeding dogs from their native country.

Working service

paratrooper anti-poaching dog

assists police and military

assists search and rescue

drug detection

assists handicapped people

herding

watchdog

World War I

Red Cross dog

messenger

rescuer

guard

supply carrier

sentry

The American Kennel Club was impressed with German Shepherds' physical abilities, but disliked its German roots, and changed the dog's name to Shepherd dog, 1917, but restored its original name, 1931.

Description

Dog breed group: herding dog

Great Britain names him Alsatian dog

Size: males stand 24-26 inches; females stand 22-24 inches

Height: 1 foot, 10 inches to 2 feet, 2 inches tall at the shoulder

Weight: 75-95 pounds

Life Span: 10-14 years

Coat types:

long-hair

double coat of medium length

The German Shepherd's coat is dense, its straight hair compresses the body, it can be wavy or wiry.

Color patterns:

black and cream

black and red

black and silver

black and tan

Other colors:

blue

gray

liver

sable

white

German Shepherds are energetic and need regular exercise, discipline training, they're suspicious of strangers, faithful companions, shed often, and need early socialization with environment and different kinds of people.

Training English foxhounds

English Foxhounds are trained by park rangers to hunt people and ammunition instead of prey animals. The dogs are trained by wearing a training collar. If an English Foxhound pursues a rabbit, a warning sound is triggered and it receives a mild electrical shock to discourage interest in small game. The rangers like their English Foxhounds to develop their natural instincts early and put three to four month-old puppies with the pack. Six months are taken to train an English Foxhound at an expense of R60,000 per hound.

Three furry female foxhounds were named after Volkswagen models in celebration of Unitrans Automotive Volkswagen and Audi divisions. Automotive corporations funded the foxhound program. The trio of foxhounds were trained in March, and worked with their handlers, experiencing exposure to wild animals, the wilderness, and potential conflicting situations. The dogs worked at Kruger National Park.

2015, South Africa lost 1,175 rhinos because poachers killed them for their horns. Kruger National Park lost 826 of them. Park ranger, Richard Sowry claimed English Foxhounds and American blue tick coonhounds helped KNP arrest 23 poachers and helped them seize 11 firearms. English foxhounds strong sniffing ability tracks the spoors of poachers.

Attack dogs save African wildlife

Richard Sowry quote about English foxhounds

“The adrenalin of the hunt drives them – this is their strongest instinct. The dogs love it, because they simply wouldn’t track if they didn’t enjoy it.”

English Foxhound

Source

Hunted by bloodhounds - Kenya expedition- earth unplugged

Sniffer dogs

The Endangered Wildlife Trust trained sniffer dogs to discover an assortment of protected wildlife contraband. Rhino horns, elephant ivory tusks, and leopard skins, are smuggled across boarders by invading poachers. Bloodhounds compile an impressive tracking record; they help police track down dead bodies and narcotics. Their sense of smell is 400 times more powerful than humans. Their high level of aggression and strong working drive are attributes that classify them as excellent protection dogs.

Olfactory senses of hunting dogs help them find poachers in endangered conservation areas. Sniffer dogs help park rangers track down guns, ammunition, and spent bullet casings. Dogs hunt poachers at night; poachers prefer to target wildlife late evening. Field rangers order dogs to attack on command. Poachers are inclined to avoid invading areas where sniffer dogs are present.

South African’s Bloodhounds are prized for their tracking ability. They work in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are a couple of negative aspects about bloodhounds:

large heavy weight of bloodhounds makes it difficult for them to tolerate severe hot weather.

bloodhounds are prone to ear infections

Virunga National Park Rangers patrol wildlife areas armed with AK-47's to protect themselves and the animals. But they need powerful help tracking dangerous poachers. Fourteen Rangers received special assistance from bloodhounds trained by Dr. Marlene Zähner. She currently continues to work for the Virunga National Park. Hunting dogs were introduced in an early stage anti-poaching initiative. Zähner helped train bloodhounds since May, 2011, and CSI (crime scene investigation) officers have taught rangers how to handle the dogs and investigative techniques. Blood hounds are able to track a scent for up to 300 hours. The accuracy of their tracking ability is trusted by a court of law; bloodhound findings, human or physical objects, are accepted as solid evidence.

Bloodhounds continue to assist rangers track down poachers from scenting dead animals and then tracking down poachers, but saving elephants because of their ivory tusk always poses a major challenge.

Anti-poaching dogs

What is your favorite anti-poaching dog?

Conservation Academies

K-9 Conservation uses trained dogs in conservations areas and national parks. They help protect wildlife species from illegal hunting and poaching teams. Dogs are carefully conditioned with extensive on-the-job training from field rangers. The K-9 units adapt to any terrain surface, are capable of working during any time, and capable of working for extended hours.

K-9 Conservation supports a student training program for four individuals at a time. Field rangers train veterinary and conservation students at KZN North Coast or Mpumalanga, South Africa. Animal Jobs Direct also offers people an opportunity to learn two-week dog training that includes anti poaching. Accepted applicants help train dogs on a game farm in South African Botswana and Zimbabwe. Both organizations offer additional information about several dog training programs.

The Canine Training Academy of Colorado helped strengthen the Ngiro-are Outpost by the Tanzanian border. The goal was to improve their security against wildlife poaching. Linda Porter and John Lutenberg trained two bloodhound dogs to guard their boarders, June, 2009. Rustlers were continuously stealing cattle and taking them across the border. Wildebeast, zebra, and Thompson Gazelles, were regularly killed for bush meat around the Mara Triangle. The reserves experienced problems with poaching snares in 2008, lions and elephants were killed by them. Hunters used spears, bows and arrows to kill hippos and leopards.

Bloodhounds in action

Source

Summary

National park rangers employ a variety of hunting dogs to help them protect endangered wildlife in the forest. They dedicate many hours training sniffing dogs with the best training techniques possible, including crime scene investigation. Paratroop hunting with dogs, shock collars, go-pro monitoring devices, and specialized dog vests, are developing innovations that help rangers achieve relevant results.

Comments

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Gilbert Arevalo 7 months agofrom Hacienda Heights, California

Training of hunting dogs are specifically targeted around National Parks such as Africa, Bill. I think dogs aiding injured veterans returning back from places such as Afghanistan probably get more news coverage. I'm glad you learned something from looking at my article. Those anti-poaching dogs certainly help rangers hunt for ivory hunters in a dangerous world.

Bill Holland 7 months agofrom Olympia, WA

Oddly I did not know this, but it sure makes sense. Thanks for the information. Very interesting!

Author

Gilbert Arevalo 8 months agofrom Hacienda Heights, California

Thank you for taking an interest in this article, Mel.

Mel Carriere 8 months agofrom San Diego California

Bravo for these brave dogs fighting at the front lines to preserve this global treasure. This is why canine abuse offends me so much, because these dogs are always willing to take a bullet for us or do things that we are incapable of doing. Great hub.